Kwame Nkrumah Biography
Kwame Nkrumah was the first president and first Prime Minister of Ghana after nation’s independence
from British rule. This biography provides detailed information on his childhood, life, career,
achievements and timeline.
Quick Facts
Also Known As Francis Nwia Kofi Ngonloma
Famous as First President of Ghana
Nationality Ghanaian, Romanian
Religion Roman Catholicism
Political ideology Convention People's Party
Born on 21 September 1909 AD
Zodiac Sign Virgo
Born in Nkroful
Died on 27 April 1972 AD
Place of death Bucharest
Father Kofi Ngonloma
Mother Elizabeth Nyanibah
Spouse Fathia Nkrumah
Children Samia Nkrumah, Gamal Nkrumah,
Education Achimota School, London School of Economics,
University of Pennsylvania, Lincoln University,
Founder/Co-Founder Organization of African Unity
Discoveries / inventions West African National Secretariat
www.thefamouspeople.com Page 1 / 6
Kwame Nkrumah and the members of his party, The Convention People’s Party, worked towards
starting a peaceful uprising towards British rule by initiating civil disobedience movement, strikes,
protests, etc. Although he was put behind the bars but his demands were ultimately met and he was
asked to form the government. Under his supervision he made sure that the constitution of Ghana kept
reforming and changing, his efforts led him to become the Prime Minister of Ghana and later on the
President. As the sole leader of the country, he made sure that along with political reforms, Ghana also
went through some major economical and social changes. His leadership changed the future of Ghana
but it also went through some tough times under him as he gradually changed into an authoritarian and
started imposing his whims and fancies on the people of Ghana. He was overthrown in a military coup,
which led him to live in exile in Guinea until his death. Despite a tragic end to his influence in Ghana,
his contribution in making the foundation of the country is incomparable and he was honored with the
Lenin Peace Prize for that.
Childhood & Early Life:
Kwame Nkrumah was born in Nkroful, Gold Coast, to Kofi Ngonloma and Elizabeth Nyanibah
of the Anona Clan. He studied in Achimota School in Accra and aspired to become a teacher.
He worked as a school teacher from 1930-1935 and taught at various schools in Gold Coast,
which also included a Roman Catholic school. All this while, he was saving up cash to be able to
study in America in near future.
In 1935, he finally sailed from Gold Coast to London and applied for an America visa from there
and in the same year, he got admission in the Lincoln University of Pennsylvania.
He finished his Bachelor of Arts Degree, Sacred Theology degree and then earned his Master of
Science degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1942. He went on to get another Masters
degree in philosophy the following year.
While he was studying at the Lincoln University, he was elected as the president of the African
Students Organization of the United States and Canada. He was into theatre and writing and one
www.thefamouspeople.com Page 2 / 6
of his essays was published in ‘The Lincolnian’.
Career:
In 1945, Nkrumah travelled back to London and got involved in organizing the Fifth Pan-African
Congress in Manchester and then worked towards decolonization of Africa by founding the West
African Nation Secretariat.
He got an invitation to become the General Secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention in
1947, an opportunity that he accepted and sailed back for Gold Coast. It took him a few months
to make the journey.
In 1948, Nkrumah was arrested along with other party members, after the police suspected
party’s involvement in the recent riots that spurred up in Accra, Kumasi, etc. after police fired on
a group of protesting ex-serviceman.
After he was released, he started working vehemently towards the political and social betterment
of Gold Coast. He had Cocoa farmers, trade unions and women on his side. In 1949 he formed a
new party, The Convention People’s Party.
The newly formed party demanded for universal franchise, a separate house of chiefs and self-
governing status under the Statute of Westminster for Ghana and when the demands were
rejected, Nkrumah organized civil disobedience movement, boycotts and strikes.
The revolt against the British governance led to immediate arrest of Nkrumah in 1950, along
with other members of The Convention People’s Party in 1950. He was sentenced to
imprisonment for three years.
In 1951, owing to international pressures and internal disobedience, the British decided to leave
Gold Coast and organized their first general elections. Although Nkrumah was in jail, his party
won the highest number of seats in the Legislative Assembly.
Nkrumah was released from the jail in 1951 and was asked to form a government. In the
following year, another amendment in the constitution took place as it was decided that Gold
Coast needed a Prime Minister.
Nkrumah won the election for the position of Prime Minister, hands down, in 1952 and the first
thing that he requested as Prime Minister of Ghana was independence within the British
Commonwealth. The request was approved.
In 1957, Ghana was declared free by their Prime Minister Nkrumah as it became a
Commonwealth realm. With years of hard work and political maneuvering, he declared his plans
to make Ghana a republic.
The presidential election and plebiscite on the constitution were held in 1960 and the constitution
was changed, which led to Nkrumah’s election as the President of Ghana. Ghanaian sovereignty
was surrendered to a Union of African States.
As soon as Nkrumah became the President of Ghana, he founded the Kwame Nkrumah
Ideological Institute to train Ghanaian civil servants and endorse Pan-Africanism. He made it
compulsory for all students to take a two-week ideological orientation before joining college.
www.thefamouspeople.com Page 3 / 6
The downfall of Nkrumah began when he started being authoritarian by declaring strikes as
illegal, opposing industrial democracy, giving way to Preventive Detention Act, making CPP the
only legal party and declaring himself president for life.
He went to North Vietnam and China for a visit in 1966 and in his absence, his government was
overthrown in a military coup. He never returned back to Ghana, scared that he would be
abducted and assassinated.
Major Works:
Despite the later authoritarian subjection on Ghana, Nkrumah was the major reason how Ghana
could achieve its decolonization and be included in the Commonwealth realm. Nkrumah in his
role as a Prime Minister brought in amendments in the Ghanaian constitution.
Under his leadership, forestry, fishing, and cattle-breeding expanded, production of cocoa
increased tremendously, and modest deposits of bauxite and gold were exploited more
efficiently. The construction of a dam on Volta River gave Ghana its irrigation and hydroelectric
revolution.
Personal Life & Legacy:
After Nkrumah’s government was overthrown, he lived in exile in Guinea. He was made the
honorary co-president of the country. He lived a simple life but he was always under the fear that
the western agencies were after him.
In 1971, he went to Bucharest, Romania, for a medical treatment and died in the following year
of prostate cancer. He was buried in a tomb in Nkroful, Ghana, but his remains were preserved in
Accra.
Trivia:
Nkrumah was voted Africa's man of the millennium by listeners to the BBC World Service.
Quotes By Kwame Nkrumah
www.thefamouspeople.com Page 4 / 6
